This Problematic Buffy the Vampire Slayer Couple Wouldn’t Fly Today (& That Was the Whole Point)
QUICK LINKS
- Spike and Buffy Had Some of the Darkest Moments of the Series
- Buffy and Spike Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere
- Season 7 Confuses the Spike and Buffy Narrative
Warning
This article discusses topics on sexual assault.
No matter how much time has passed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will always remain a definitive cult classic. While debuting in 1997, the themes and plot points remain as relevant as ever. The series is a timeless story about a girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders as Buffy Summers traverses high school and eventually college. Plotlines revolve around the metaphorical demons that people deal with in everyday life. Stories such as domestic abuse, assault, and addiction are common themes found in the series.
Buffy, will forever stand the test of time purely because of the impact it had on culture. But that isn’t to say there aren’t drawbacks to the series. Showrunner and creator Joss Whedon has not remained a feminist icon as accusations of toxic work environments have come out. The creative has not had a career in the industry since this reveal and is not involved in the upcoming Buffy reboot. Besides that, some elements of the series have not aged well by virtue of simply being from the ’90s. Gender politics have evolved since the series came out, particularly since the dark season, which features one of the most talked-about couples on the show. Season 6 gave way to the long-awaited arrival of Buffy and Spike, a relationship that, while beloved, would be tricky to implement in the modern zeitgeist.
Spike and Buffy Had Some of the Darkest Moments of the Series
The strength of Buffy the Vampire Slayer always lies in its storytelling. The first few seasons told stories about the trials of growing up as Buffy and her friends did the same. But once they graduated high school, so too did the stories. Season 6 is infamous for its dark material as the series moved from its original home in The WB to the more mature network, UPN. The season starts with a bang as Willow refuses to accept that Buffy is dead. She uses dark magic to bring her best friend back to life, only to learn a terrible truth. Buffy wasn’t trapped in some hell dimension like they thought. She was actually at peace in a heavenly place where she had nothing to worry about until her friends selfishly ripped her from it. Buffy’s main arc of the season is dealing with the depression that follows and one of the most toxic relationships in the series.
During her downward spiral, Buffy finds common ground with Spike. The soulless vampire had already made his feelings for her plain in the past, but before her death, it was a non-starter. Season 6 depicts Buffy exploring the darker parts of herself, including a sexual and, at times, masochistic relationship with Spike. Their dynamic starts with Buffy’s deteriorating mental state and the only way she can be free of her feelings is to lose herself in Spike. Their sexual chemistry is undeniable but notably abusive.
Their first sexual encounter occurs when Spike learns that, after coming back from the dead, he can hurt Buffy. The chip in his head stops him from hurting any human being, but her death is a loophole in the rule. The point is proven when the two get into a physical altercation, with Spike punching Buffy repeatedly. While she has a stronger-than-average constitution for pain, violence against a partner is never acceptable. This fight turns from violent into sexual and starts the concerning trend of a toxic relationship between the two.
On most days, Buffy seems to hate Spike, and he easily slings vitriol back at her. Their relationship is primarily fueled by negative feelings, which culminate in sex and violence in equal measure in one of the most divisive scenes in the series. When Buffy tries to put a stop to things, Spike attempts to force himself on her. The assault is a turning point for the characters but is also a point of no return.
This act is indefensible and makes romanticising the couple extremely problematic. While the episode aired in the early aughts and was perhaps more widely accepted, no one could accept a fan-favorite couple having this kind of storyline nowadays. It is safe to say that the Buffy reboot won’t include this edgy material, but in two decades of retrospection, there is still merit to watching the relationship unfold between these two characters.
Buffy and Spike Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere
Spike and Buffy have a long history of viewers engaging with the couple. The only danger is glamorizing the darkness in the relationship. By the end of Season 6, the series makes it clear that there is nothing to idealize here. Spike’s attempted assault on a woman he supposedly loves is a bridge too far, and nothing good can come out of them being together. While some fans may have romanticized the two together, that is not the point of the arc.
Season 6 makes it quite clear that this is a story about a toxic relationship that is, unfortunately, too common in real life. Just like the high school years told stories about growing pains, the later seasons of Buffy tell stories just as significant about becoming an adult. Reaching maturation means making mistakes and trying to figure out the purpose of life. Buffy tells this story extremely well, especially with the Buffy and Spike relationship. The two being together isn’t just drama or violence for the sake of it. The dynamic evolves naturally in a heartwrenching way.
| Spike’s First Appearance | Last Appearance | Portrayed By | Number of Episodes |
| Season 2, Episode 3, “School Hard” | Season 7, Episode 22. “Chosen” | James Marsters | 97 |
Before Buffy came back from the dead, a relationship with Spike would have been laughable. He has no soul and would kill anyone if it wasn’t for the chip in his head. When Buffy returns, they are on more even ground. The bond between them intensifies when Buffy tells him a secret that no one else knows. She allows her friends to believe they rescued her from a hell dimension, only to tell Spike that she believes she was in heaven.
He keeps the secret for her, and they start to understand each other a little better. Spike also stands on solid ground because he was not involved in the crime of bringing her back from the dead. Both of them are outcasts, and both of them are dead inside. Buffy is, at best, sedated by the world and, at worst, incredibly depressed by the cruelty of it. No one can understand that but Spike. He is a conduit for her to feel again, and no matter how unfair that may be, the two have a connection. Buffy struggles against this fact for as long as she can before eventually bowing beneath the weight of their attraction towards each other.
No matter how much the two of them make sense, however, they still aren’t in a healthy relationship. They hurt each other any chance they get, with Spike in particular, aiming his aggressive tendencies at Buffy even before the assault at the end of the season. The series is out to tell a very important story. These types of relationships happen all the time and not in a vacuum. Buffy needed someone, and he was the only one who could emotionally support her. With Giles gone and her friends blaming themselves for her state, Spike was the only person who treated her normally.
These bonds are strong, and it takes an even stronger person to break out of toxic ties like this. The relationship between the two shows the complexities of adult life and how complicated and, at times, brutal things can get. The season ends with a decisive division between the two characters. Spike uses it to finally get the forward momentum for his character that he needs, which should have been the end of the arc. The final season of Buffy makes the relationship between the two more romantic than it perhaps should have been.
Season 7 Confuses the Spike and Buffy Narrative
Spike’s violent and aggressive nature should have put a full stop to any relationship with Buffy, and for a time, it does. Season 7 puts Spike through a crucible of trying to find himself with everyone walking on eggshells. The gang knows that he attacked Buffy, and even Dawn, who was particularly close with Spike, promises she will light him on fire if he does anything like that again.
The end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has the difficult task of trying to tie everything up in a bow an ultimately attempts this by romanticizing Buffy and Spike. This dynamic gets more complicated when Spike finally gets his soul. Ashamed of what he’s done, he does the impossible and gets ensouled so he can function as a real person. But even if Spike never commits violence again, he is still the person that attacked Buffy. There is no excuse for that, no matter how many life changes he goes through. Even so, the series pushes the two together in a romantic setting.
Buffy and Spike never become official again, but there are implications of an emotional relationship by the end of the series. These factors remove the teeth of a solid theme in Season 6. For Buffy to go through such a traumatic event and ultimately forgive Spike is a story that may have been a little too much. A current series would not even attempt this, supernatural metaphors or not. Consent is a large conversation in the current culture, and Buffy and Spike could not be romanticized in this day and age. To put a finer point on it, that is why the series was written in the first place.
Spike and Buffy should not be a goal. They are a warning and a story that may be all too familiar to some viewers. While the season was not a hit for everyone because of its dark nature, no one can say that the Spike and Buffy relationship didn’t work as a story. Creatives may not attempt this again in any future versions of the IP, but it will remain an important part of Buffy canon forever.
Original article at CBR
This article has been reproduced for archive purposes, all rights remain.
